Two Sides of a Coin
by redsandman99
Summary: After their last match together, Dean pays Regal a visit at the hospital.


**A/N: Came up with this after watching the Ambrose/Regal rematch on the last episode of FCW. Meant to be done a lot sooner but recent health and work issues have kept me from writing much.**

**...**

"Come on Dean that's enough! That's enough!" That was all Dean Ambrose heard as he was literally dragged to the back by his fellow co-workers. He had at least a half dozen pairs of hands on him while the rest followed right behind, ready to catch him if he managed to break free and made a run back to the ring. In that ring lay the beaten and bloody William Regal, who was being tended to by officials. The long awaited rematch between the two of them had to be stopped when Regal couldn't even defend himself but that hadn't meant Ambrose had stopped. He had continued to attack, throwing out referees and various wrestlers before going to the corner and waiting for Regal to get up on his knees. Regal, dazed and bleeding from the ear, had actually applauded him before surrendering and ticking a vicious knee right to the side of the head. The rest of the locker room had come out afterwards, pushing him back into the corner and dragging him away from the ring but it was too late. The damage had been done.

"Get off me!" Dean yelled, trying to jerk himself away from everyone. He got one arm free but someone still had a hold of his hurt shoulder. He hissed in pain and turned his head back, looking to see that it was good old Seth Rollins that had shis shoulder now.

"Keep going," Seth growled, pushing him towards the dressing room.

"Make me," Dean taunted.

Seth's eyes darkened and he shoved Dean violently into the dressing room, following him in and slamming the door shut behind him. Dean stumbled over his own two feet, barely regaining his balance before being violently shoved down to the floor. He got his hands out in front of him to stop his face from slapping the cold tile and with a grunt and flipped over on to his back, propping himself up on his elbows so he could stare at the lanky man towering over him.

"What the HELL was that about?" Seth asked, the volume of his voice rapidly rising with every word. "What were you trying to prove?"

"What do you think?" Dean asked coyly. He chuckled to himself until a swift kick to the ribs took the air out of him. "Fuck!" He rolled out of the way, getting back up to his feet and shooting Seth a dirty look. "Was that necessary?"

"You don't mind kicking a man while he's down," Seth shot back. "Hurts don't it?"

"I've felt worse." Dean rubbed his ribs and spat on the floor. "If you think one little kick is going to do me in-"

"That shit with Regal wasn't necessary," Seth stated, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. "You had him beat. You didn't have to do that other shit."

"Well I did." Dean smirked as the younger man glared at him. "We all knew that was going to happen. I knew, he knew it...why do you think he avoided me for so long? Why do you think I had to dog him for a rematch over and over AND OVER again for that match?" He chuckled humorlessly. "He knew. I knew. We all knew."

"You could have stopped it."

No. He couldn't have. That's what people really didn't understand. It HAD to come down to what it did. From the moment he and Regal had crossed paths it was meant to come down to this. Dean couldn't explain what had made him attack Regal initially. An all out brawl had already broken out between Husky Harris and Richie Steamboat and he had been a part of the locker room trying to break it up. The fight had spilled out of the ring and as he had stood on the apron, he had looked back to see Regal tending to the fallen Maxine. It was pure compulsion to attack Regal in the first place but after their first match, it became even more than that. His shoulder had been dislocated and he had been beaten, which was something he hadn't been able to accept. Getting his rematch had become his obsession. It drove him nearly to the point of insanity before Regal finally caved and accepted the fate he had long time stated that would happen on commentary. This was the end of one William Regal.

Seth shook his head at the complete lack of remorse on Dean's face. "You're sick." He grabbed Dean's bag and threw it at him. "You need help. Serious, professional fucking help."

"You used to suck dick with little Jimmy Jacobs and you're going to tell ME that I need help?"

"Fuck you Ambrose."

Dean just laughed and gave Seth a wave as he turned around and stormed out. "Nice talking to you too Sunshine!"

The only response he got to that was the door slamming shut. He chuckled to himself before flopping down on to the nearest bench. His hand went up to his shoulder, a low hiss escaping his lips as he rubbed it. The initial injury Regal had given him had never seemed to heal quite right. It was healed enough so he could compete without much problems but tonight he was really feeling it. The pain wasn't anything unbearable though. He had endured much, much worse. His body was littered with scars from hellacious death matches from his past. A sore shoulder was the least of his worries.

He sat there for a bit longer, nursing his shoulder before getting up and changing into his street clothes. He grabbed his bag and slung it on his other shoulder before leaving the room. The hallway was mostly empty, with just a couple of new guys with names he hadn't learned yet just standing around. They moved out of the way when they saw him coming and even though he didn't turn around to see them, he knew they were staring at him as he went. It didn't bother him in the slightest though. He just left the building, tossing his bag into the passenger's seat of the rental car before getting in and driving off. At first he started to drive home but halfway there he changed his mind and turned around, heading to the hospital closest to the FCW arena. With the amount of head trauma Regal had to have been taken to the hospital for observation. Whether he was alone or not was the question-and one that Dean was willing to find out.

...

Despite visiting hours being over, Dean charmed the lady at the receptionist desk into giving him Regal's room number and snuck around her so he could actually go up to it. On the way he nearly ran into JR and Dusty Rhodes but he ducked out of the way and stayed out of sight until they walked past him. The only reason he hid was because he didn't want to deal with them trying to stop him from doing what he intended to do. Once they were at of sight he emerged and finished making his way to Regal's room. He glanced up and down the hallway just to make sure the coast was clear before slipping inside the room. Regal had a private room and he was actually awake, staring at the TV until Dean came into the room. Then he just casually glanced over, a tired but not surprised expression on his face. "There you are dear boy..."

Dean tilted his head to the side and came closer to the bed. His eyes were locked on the older man's and he could tell from their glassyness that Regal hadn't fully regained his bearings.

Regal smiled softly, an almost proud look on his face. "it's finally over. You finally did it. You took me out."

"Yeah." Dean pulled up a chair and sat down. "You put it off long enough." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Regal just stared at him, either not afraid or his brain was too screwed up to think that something else could easily be done to him.

"Can you blame me?" Regal asked, almost chuckling as he did. "It's not an easy thing to accept my boy. One day you'll understand."

Dean pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair. "You think I'm going to end up like this?" He chuckled and shook his head. "No. I won't allow myself to end up like this.

"You think I didn't tell myself the same thing?" Now it was Regal's turn to chuckle bitterly. "Nobody thinks they can ever be ended Sunshine. It's not a possibility we like to consider. It can't be us it can never be us. But the truth is its all of us. Everything catches up." Regal slowly sat up, wincing and putting a hand up to his head as he did so. "You're no different than I am. We're two sides of the same bloody coin. I knew it from the moment I saw you. You're just as viscious, just as vile as I am-"

"Once was," Dean corrected. He leaned forward again and got in Regal's face. "Hate to break it to you but you're not half the man you used to be."

"Perhaps not," Regal admitted. "But that'll be you someday as well. It won't be tomororw, it won't be a month from now-it might not even be for ten or twenty years from now. But someday you'll find someone who's just as evil or even more evil than you could ever be. Maybe I'll be dead and gone by then but it will happen. And it'll make you sick because you'll have to accept it whether you want to or not. And then you either let them take you or fight to the bloody, bitter end."

Silence followed that little speech. Regal laid back down, looking as if he exhausted his abilities to form coherent sentences. Dean felt a sense of undeniable truth to the words but he shook them off anyway. "It's only true if you don't self destruct before then."

"I don't think you'll allow yourself that."

"And why not?"

"You're like me...you want to see if there's any truth in the whole matter. If you were going to self destruct you would have done so already."

"That's what you think huh?"

"You want everyone else to burn before you do."

"Well you got THAT one right." Dean smirked and patted Regal on the shoulder before getting back up to his feet. He couldn't stay any longer he had to sneak back out without getting seen. "See you around Regal." He wasn't sure if Regal heard him since it seemed like the other man had drifted off on him. He didn't stay around to check though. He just peeked out the door and checked his path before going, sneaking right back out of the hosptial and going off into the night.


End file.
